The Circus Drive-In has been a fixture for generations of families heading to the Jersey Shore and nearby residents since 1954.

dammit, bummed they demolished a Jersey Shore relic of a restaurant since the 1950s, The Circus Drive-In . Cool signage of what else, a creepy clown and the restaurant was shaped in a merry-go-round setup. fools for destroying a NJ Landmark! pic.twitter.com/gcTFOPmGwA

The metal white-and-red stripped roof, made to look like an old-fashioned circus tent, survived some of the worst storms to blow ashore. But it only took 20 minutes on Wednesday for an excavator to demolish the diner in Wall Township.

It was put up for sale by the most recent owners in 2016, and was bought by a shopping center developer.